The Werewolf's Sabbat Ch. 03

Twenty years later

Janette located her favorite ink pen and name tag from the shelf in her grandmother's living room before grabbing her purse. "Grandma, I'm heading to work now. Do you need anything before I go?" She had been staying with her grandma the past three weeks, helping her recover from an injury she had obtained during a freak ice storm.

"No, dear, I will be just fine. You have a good day at work." She smiled up at her granddaughter, before returning her attention back to her crocheting project in her lap. The past few weeks have been hell for her after taking a nasty fall down the icy front porch steps and breaking her ankle. She felt that she probably could have taken care of herself all of this time but her granddaughter had insisted on staying to help her. She wasn't about to argue, though, it had been nice having an extra helping hand around the cottage.

Janette slipped her jacket on before giving the old woman in the rocking chair a worried look. "Are you sure? There's a fresh pot of coffee ready for you in the kitchen and some sweet rolls that I bought from the bakery last night if you get hungry." She stepped quickly over to her grandma, leaning over to kiss her lightly on the cheek. "I'll be home in about eight hours, unless my shift runs long. But, if you need anything, you have my cell number and my work number. Just dial extension 589 and it will ring you directly to my phone."

Grandma rolled her eyes. "Stop fussing over me and just go." She said with a smile. "I'm 65 years old. I'm pretty sure I can manage, you know."

"I know you can. I just worry about you, that's all grandma." Janette gave her one last kiss before grabbing her car keys and heading out the door for work. The hospital was a 20 minute drive from her grandmother's small farm house; however, Janette tried to leave at least 45 minutes before her shift was to start. She hated being late for work and with these country dirt roads you never knew what to expect, especially in bad weather.

Janette knew that her grandmother didn't really need her there to take care of her. She was perfectly capable on her own, plus she had her twin sister there to help if need be. She had just wanted to stay a few days with her grandma Rose and Aunt Marion but after those few days was over; Janette found that she wasn't ready to return to her lonely one bedroom apartment in the city. She had been raised on this very farm since they had moved to Washington when she was five years old. She loved being independent and having her own place but never really felt at home unless she was at her grandmother's house. They had always had so much fun together, cooking, cleaning, and taking care of the animals. They didn't have a regular run of the mill farm. They only had ten acres of land containing a few milking goats, chickens, three horses and two cats. You wouldn't think that house work and cleaning up after animals could be fun, but her grandma and aunt always found a way to make it so.

Janette's favorite thing to do on the farm was to care for the horses. She loved her horse, Calico. He didn't look anything remotely calico but she had insisted when she was young that the horse actually spoke to her and told her that was his name. Grandma always forbid her to ride through the woods bordering their land, claiming that the big bad wolf would get her, but she knew it was just a scare tactic and did it anyway. That was the running joke between the three of them, grandma's house in the woods, the big bad wolf... one time she had even made Janette a hooded red cloak as a gift, to top it all off. Of course, these days she didn't have time for that kind of care free living and horse riding as she had been too busy with work and being a responsible adult.

Janette pulled into the staff parking lot of the hospital with twenty minutes remaining before her shift was due to begin. Parking her car and switching off the ignition, she walked quickly to the employee entrance, and went to her locker where she hung her jacket and grabbed her stethoscope. She politely bid several coworkers 'Good morning' before heading to the break room for a cup of coffee and Danish. Janette looked forward to this time of morning as these few precious minutes were likely the only ones she would have to herself all day. She pulled her name tag from the pocket of her scrub top and ran her finger across the bold lettering. 'Janette Timbers, RN'

Janette had been accepted into the RN program at the local college right out of high school. It had never been her dream to become a nurse but she had already had all of the required prerequisites out of the way and got in immediately even though there had been a rather long waiting list. She had accepted it mostly because it was convenient as she didn't really know what she wanted to do with her life yet, as far as a career went. Besides, nurses made a pretty good wage there in Washington, so she couldn't complain. She was grateful to earn a good income and have the ability to take care of herself without relying on another. Janette had gone to college for two years before finally getting her RN and landing a job at the local hospital. She had been working there for five years now and had grown to actually like it.

"Good morning, Jan." Her coworker, Robert flashed her a flirtatious grin while grabbing her cup and refilling it for her. "How's your morning going so far?"

"Can't complain, how about yourself?" She accepted the cup he offered her and nodded her thanks.

"Another day, another dollar." He said, pouring a cup for himself.

Smiling politely at him, Janette glanced at her watch seeing that it was time to get to work. She finished her coffee and Danish before throwing both the paper cup and Danish wrapper into the trash. She started to walk out the door towards her unit when Robert called her name. "Hey, Jan, wait up!" He took off in a light jog to catch up to her. "Hey, I was thinking," He averted his eyes from hers nervously. "Why don't you have dinner with me tonight?"

Janette felt her tummy flip. This was the last thing she was expecting him to ask and she wasn't too sure how to respond without hurting his feelings or making herself sound like a cold inconsiderate bitch. She paused momentarily considering her response. "Robert, that's very sweet of you but I don't date coworkers."

His face fell slightly before he recovered, masking the disappointment in his eyes. "That's ok, I understand. Thanks anyway." He gave her a wink before turning and walking away.

Janette breathed a long sigh and headed to the surgical floor. She suddenly felt frustrated at the way things always seemed to play out as far as her love life went, or lack of one. There were no official rules about dating coworkers but she had found out the hard way that it wasn't a good idea. The first and only time she had dated someone from the hospital things went to hell and she almost lost her job. She had been seeing Ben for almost three months when she caught him having sex with another nurse in a utility closet and broke it off with him. His ego was bruised and he sought retribution and accused her of stealing. The only reason she didn't get canned was because one of the doctors somehow overheard him talking to another male coworker in the hall about what he was doing. They both laughed their asses off about how he was getting back at Janette. The doctor reported it to administration, an investigation took place and Ben was fired a week later. Every since then, she had made it a rule to never date the people she worked with. The only problem was that nobody outside of the hospital ever asked her out. She hadn't had a date in over two years and it was starting to wear on her.

Janette was suddenly shaken from her thoughts when her friend Melissa came running up to her. "Oh my gawd, Jan. Where have you been?? I've been looking everywhere for you." The woman put her arm around Janette's shoulders, walking in step with her.

Janette rolled her eyes at her high strung wide eyed friend and laughed. "I just got here, why what happened?"

"Girl, you have got to go to the club with me tonight." Melissa was almost hysterical she couldn't control her excitement. "I met this guy... no...wait, wrong word. I met this Greek God the other day and he asked me out. He's supposed to meet me tonight at that club on the other side of town. Please, you so have to go!"

Melissa always seemed more like a teenager than a grown adult. Janette couldn't help but to be jealous of her friend's carefree, fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants personality, not to mention her good looks. The 5'8 blond with electric blue eyes and stab-you-in-the-face boobs never seemed to have troubles getting a date. She was almost like a real life Barbie Doll. Janette burst out laughing at her friend's wild expression. "Melissa, I can't. I'm sorry but I've got quite a bit to do tonight."

"Like what?" Melissa rolled her eyes at Janette. "Oh, I remember now. You have all those chickens to feed and the horse poop to scoop, or whatever it is you farm girls do. Seriously, Jan." She grabbed her by both shoulders almost shaking her. "How is scooping horse shit more important than going out to the hottest club in town and dancing all night with Greek Gods? You really have to lighten up and have a little fun. Let your hair down for once, will ya?"

"Okay, okay, I'll think about it!" She finally relented.

Melissa smirked. "Yeah we all know what that means. For the love of the Gods, just go with me! Please, please, please?"

"I'll see what I can do." Janette hugged her friend. "I gotta run." She said walking down the hallway still laughing.

"Call me!" Melissa shouted after her.

Janette was no ugly duckling but she always felt like a third wheel when she went out with her friend. Everywhere they went she found herself waiting patiently on the sidelines for her friend to get done talking and flirting with whatever guy was falling at her feet at the moment. She loved spending time with Melissa but going out with her was a whole other story.

Janette worked through her day moving as though she was a robot. Everything came automatically to her, most of the time she didn't even have to think about it. Checking in on her patients, charting, taking vitals, starting IVs, catheters, basically doing whatever her patients needed her to do. By the time her shift ended she felt drained even if the day hadn't been physically trying. She had about ten minutes before her shift ended and she could swear the clock had to be moving backwards. How could ten minutes take so damn long? She let out a wearied sigh, replacing the last chart before finally walking to her locker to collect her purse and jacket.

Janette needed to run a few errands before heading back to the cottage so she got into her car, started the engine and headed in the direction of the supermarket. She despised grocery shopping but had promised her grandmother that she would pick up a few things on the way home. She quickly walked through the isles checking off her shopping list while throwing one item after another into her shopping cart, not even paying attention to prices or brand names. 'This is way more than just a few things, grandma' she thought while rolling her eyes. Janette wanted nothing more than to go home to a hot shower and perhaps a nap. She rolled down the frozen food isle, throwing things into her cart in a hurry to get home when she came around the corner and ran full force into another cart.

'Oh shit', she thought. "Wow, I'm so sorry. I didn't see you there." Her face turned beet red with embarrassment as she looked up into the dark brown, almost black eyes, of the man she'd nearly knocked over. He had to have been at least 6'5 with thick black wavy hair and one of the most muscular bodies she had ever seen, covered by tight fitting blue jeans and a dark blue button down shirt. Her mind went back to Melissa's talk of Greek Gods and her blush deepened at the thought. He seemed to regard her with a look of annoyance before something else flashed into his eyes. She couldn't quite put her finger on it. It was a look of... recognition? She knew for a fact she had never met him before but found herself racking her brain trying to think of a time they may have crossed paths.

The corner of his mouth turned up in a slight smile. "Are you okay, Janette?"

He laughed lightly at the shocked look on her face. "How...how do you know my name? Have we met?" She gave the Greek God a confused look as he stood there smiling, casually pointing towards the name tag she had yet to take off. She tried desperately to look anywhere but his eyes as she willed the floor to open up and swallow her whole but it didn't work. She was left standing there stuttering and feeling like a complete,and utter moron. She closed her eyes for a moment and swallowed hard. "I'm sorry for running into you." Then she hastily steered her cart around his and took off towards the check out.

As she rushed by him his eyes followed her "I'm not" he said to himself.

Oh my God, Oh my God, Oh my God. What the hell just happened? She thought to herself. She couldn't seem to get a hold of her nerves. She took a few deep breaths and tried to calm herself only to look over and see him in the next check out lane still staring at her. She had never felt so mortified in all of her life. What must he think of her?

'Oh look! There's that girl who runs carelessly down the isles plowing innocent people over with her shopping cart.'

She tried to remain focused on paying the cashier and getting the hell out of Dodge but she couldn't stop her eyes from flitting over to him. It's as though the orbs in her head had a mind of their own. When she took notice of the contents of his shopping cart in the next lane she couldn't help but give him a look of disgust at all the steaks he was purchasing. Who eats that much meat? Someone throw that man a vegetable, please! He seemed to pick up on what she was thinking and only shook his head and laughed. The full fledged smile he directed her way was more than she could take. He had the most perfect, whitest teeth she had ever seen. She found herself holding her breath in anticipation of that famous 'gleam' that always happens to peoples smiles on toothpaste commercials. Janette didn't know what had come over her; she only knew she had to get out of there. NOW.

"Stop." She ordered the cashier.

"I'm sorry, Ma'am?" He said cocking one eyebrow at her.

"Stop scanning things. I don't want the rest of the things in my cart. An emergency just came up, you see, and I have to leave. Would you just give me my total please?" She didn't mean to sound so desperate. The cashier gave her an irritated look and stated the amount she owed; she slid her credit card through the machine, placed the last of her bags in her cart and hurried out to the parking lot. She was so flustered that she almost forgot where she had parked. Finally locating her car she scurried to it, loaded her groceries into the trunk, and jumped into the front seat resting her head on the steering wheel in an effort to catch her breath.

"Hello again."

"OH MY GOD!" Janette jumped and screamed, putting a hand on her chest. So much for trying to catch her breath. She closed her eyes trying to calm her heart which was about to thump its way out of her chest. "I... I didn't see you there."

"Yes, that's twice now." He laughed, leaning down, bringing them eye to eye. He slid his index finger along her forearm setting butterflies loose in her tummy. "You left before I could get your phone number. Judging by the way you ran out of there I could have swore the building was on fire."

Janette blinked several times trying to register what he had just said. "You... you want my phone number?" She looked up at him as though he had grown a third eye.

He sighed, narrowing his gaze on her. "Yes. As shocking as it may seem, I want your phone number. I also would like it very much if you would have dinner with me tomorrow night." Taking her hand in his, he slowly brought it to his lips placing a light kiss on the knuckles. "Janette, don't be so nervous. I don't bite... unless you want me to, of course"

Thank goodness she was sitting in her car at that moment because she was sure if she had been standing; her knees would have given out on her. "You want my phone number... we don't even know each other." She said uncertainly.

"Yes, hence the dinner invitation. It's called a first date, at which time we will get to know each other." He winked once more and handed her a pen and a note pad. He waited a moment before giving her a sigh of mock impatience. "Okay, this is how you do it." He took her right hand in his. "Start by grasping the pen in this hand, and then you very carefully write your phone number on the paper. It's quite simple." He said, matter-of-factly.

Janette suddenly laughed out loud at his sarcasm. "Okay, okay, I get it." She quickly jotted down her name and number before handing the pen and paper back to him. When he tried to take the paper with her number on it she tightened her grasp, holding it a moment longer, and meeting his gaze. "Don't make me regret this."

"Oh you won't, trust me." He turned to walk towards his truck.

"Wait, you didn't tell me your name!" She called after him unable to take her eyes off of his tight jean clad ass.

"Mitch. Mitch Evans!" He hopped in his truck and waved at her before driving off with another gorgeous smile.

Janette could barely remember the drive from the grocery store to her grandmother's cottage. Everything seemed a blur as all she could see in her mind was that amazing smile and those eyes that seemed to stare right into her very soul. She was still quite confused as nobody had ever had this powerful effect on her after only knowing them a few minutes. She silently reminded herself to be careful and not take things too seriously.

She raced up the front steps to the house before remembering the groceries in the trunk. She ran back to the car, unlocked the trunk and pulled out several plastic bags before slamming the door and heading back once more to the house.

Her grandmother just stood there looking at her with one eyebrow raised as she zipped through the house, dropped the bags on the kitchen table and quickly began putting things in their place. "Good day at work?" she asked

"Yeah it was ok, I guess." Janette was still unable to remove the stupid grin from her face.

"I see." Her grandma said with a smirk. She walked back to her rocking chair and clicked on the TV.

"Grandma, I'll be out in the stables if you need me, okay?" Janette didn't wait for a reply as she raced out the back door of the cottage, running almost the entire way to see Calico. She hadn't ridden in a long time and needed to clear her head. The best way for her to do that had always been horseback riding. She approached her horse slowly, talking softly to him as she saddled him up. Once she had him ready to go she jumped up onto his back and led him out into the open. At first she just let him trot around the yard a bit, giving him time to get use to her once more. She finally came to the tree line at the edge of their property. Janette gazed into the trees and then turned to look back at the house. Surely her grandma wouldn't see her from here, plus she was too busy crocheting and watching her TV shows.

'I'm twenty five goddamn years old' she said to herself. 'To hell with the big bad wolf.' She let a wide toothy grin stretch across her face before spurring Calico into a run straight into the forest. The wind whipped through her hair as freedom found her once again. She hadn't felt this happy in such a long time.

Rose and Marion stood next to each other staring out the window, watching the rebellious girl as she raced into the forbidden forest on her horse. "It won't be long now." Rose gave her twin a smile as she put an arm around her shoulder.